The following speeches were delivered today in the Gauteng Legislature by DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Economic Development, Janet Semple MPL and DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Economic Development, Ina Cilliers MPL during the debate on the 2016/17 Department of Economic Development’s annual report.
Speech by
Janet Semple MPL
“Paper improvements don’t equate to real economic reforms”
- Independent economists tell us that the economy should be growing at 3% but the current abysmal growth of around 1% is all about political uncertainty. Low economic growth means less jobs. Less jobs means more people reliant on grants and fewer taxpayers supporting those grants.
- Underspending of R2.9 million on economic planning is not such good news particularly as this was due to unpaid invoices relating to the refurbishment of township industrial hubs, a key component in developing small businesses and creating jobs.
- The deployment of a sitting Metro Councillor to the Gauteng Liquor Board raises all kinds of ethical questions around a conflict of interest and impartiality especially when decisions must be made around development issues.
The full speech can be obtained here.
Speech by
Ina Cilliers MPL
“Gauteng’s economy needs a new, values-driven approach”
- Overall, the DED budget of R1.3 billion is still not leveraged in such a way as to create a meaningful, large scale economic difference in Gauteng – especially to the township economy.
- This department is very adept at moving targets from the APP to the operational plans, and rolling up all the thousands of little decisions taken in the entities, and packaging them neatly in the DED annual report.
- The only way to achieve a capable, corruption free State, knowing that as policy makers we will never know everything, is to govern by our values of freedom, fairness and opportunity.
- If the DED were governed by such a set of values, their single pursuit would be to protect individual freedoms by facilitating opportunity in a free market. Less regulation, not more. Less intervention, not more.
The full speech can be obtained here.